when you lost the thing you can't believe you lost.. when what you just bought, just broke. or when you have a little trouble a long way from home... as an american express cardmember you can expect some help. but what you might not expect, is you can get all this with a prepaid card. spends like cash. feels like membership. good morning. i'm chris jansing. are the fiscal cliff talks stalled again? it looked like there was progress earlier this week, but now president obama and john boehner haven't talked since monday. yesterday the speaker unveiled what he's calling plan b, extend tax cuts for everyone, making

under a million dollars, just in case they don't reach a deal. is he really worried they can't agree, or is he using this for leverage to cut a better deal than the $400,000 the president is offering? regardless, right now, it seems like there is still chance for them to work together. especially after the tragedy at sandy hook elementary. >> to the extent that an event like that, as tragic as it is, brings us a little closer together, both in the nation and in washington, that would be a good thing. >> i continue to have hope that we can reach an agreement. it's not a time to put americans through more stress. >> later this morning, president obama will officially announce that like vice president biden will take charge of an effort to-like at policy in the wake of the murder of 20 children and 6

women in newtown, connecticut. i want to bring in "usa today" washington bureau chief susan page and for "the chicago sun times," lynn swede. good morning. let me start with the fiscal cliff, pause because we only ha days left. harry reid declared boehner's plan doa. let me play what he said. >> every time we get down to getting something for the long-term financial security of this country, they take that football and it is a charlie brown episode, they jerk the ball away. >> so, lynn, what is the strategy with plan b? >> well, actually the white house just said this morning that obama would veto plan b, so it may be boehner needs to look for c, d, e and f going into further negotiations because the -- i think the reality is that there is movement on both sides. i think boehner looked -- wanted

to look prudent to his members and put out -- float this other plan. and this is all the negotiations. i think they still just have to get more spending cuts, obama has his left flank exposed with his cost of living issues dealing with social security. so i still think they're heading very slowly towards a deal, 13 years is like dog years. it is a longer time it may seem to the naked eye. >> susan, are we stuck on revenue here? the president wanted $250,000. and now moved to $400,000 while boehner is still at a million. is boehner going to have to move? >> you know, i don't think we're still stuck on revenue. i think it is clear it will be less than a million and more than $400,000, so $500,000, $600,000, $700,000 as the cutoff point. as lynn was saying, you said earlier, there is only 13 days left. i think in washington it is

like, there are 13 days left. no need to do this in a hurry. i think it is clear that it is not going to get done until after christmas for sure. and i think it is likely to get done. you know, it is like theater, like watching a play and we're not quite at the point yet when you have the two sides come together for the curtain call. we're still in the stage where people are posturing for position before that final deal gets made. >> lynn, you pointed out one of the other things being negotiated right now is social security. and the white house signaled it might be willing to change the formula for how the payments were calculated. let me play what tom cole said. >> these are minor adjustments. they're things that people will hardly notice. but they add up over a decade to a lot of money. will you take political heat? sure. i think everybody is going to take political heat on all sides of this. >> there is political heat and then there is outrage. could this produce outrage from liberals? >> well, this one can. and this is where the base, the

democratic base, is going to have to -- responding angrily to this. why -- the argument is if the very wealthy have to pay more, why are you still hurting some of the people who, for whom that small amount is very meaningful in paying rent or getting food on the table. and i would think that this very much is in the eye of the beholder, having a bigger tax hit when you're very wealthy is quite different than having a cost of living increase shaved when you depend on social security. and that's part of the essential conversation going on now. >> some of the constituencies are out there. check out this ad that just came out. >> welcome to boehnerville, where the rich won't pay their fair share. our children's educations will be cut. medicare, medicaid and social security will be put at risk. and the economic recovery would falter. >> that is from the nea, seiu.

is that as much to john boehner as it is to the president? >> that's a message to the president. the white house already put chain cpi, this formerly arcane phrase we're now all too familiar with, on the table. i think it is clear that a deal is going to include that. if they reach a deal, i think they will, not for sure, but i think they will. it is likely to include this. we have gotten out of the habit of making deals in washington because what happens is both sides tend to be unhappy about some elements of it. otherwise, it is not -- that's what makes it a compromise. so i think that even though some liberals, union leaders and some others are going to be very unhappy with moving to chain cpi for social security and other programs that help needy people, that is the direction we're going and, you know what, the cuts that are going to follow in future negotiations are going to be more severe because we have a big hole. >> stand by. i want to bring in congressman steve israel, democrat from new york, head of the democratic

congressional campaign committee. good morning, congressman. >> hey, chris. >> a lot of things to talk about. we just heard from the white house that the president said -- he already said he was against plan b. now they're saying that for some reason it got through the house, he would veto it. where are you in terms of revenue? $400,000 is not -- is not a number that is workable for the republicans, is there another number you think would be acceptable to the democrats? >> actually i think $400,000 is about right. i actually had some concerns with the initial figure $250,000, $250,000 may make you rich in some areas of the country, does not make you rich in very high cost of living areas like long island. and so i think the president has shown a remarkable compromise going from 250 to 400. what we need the republicans to do is show their share compromise. the american people aren't interested in plan a, not interested in plan b, they're interested in plan c. plan c is compromise.

we have to get the republicans to meet us at least halfway. every time we think we make progress, they walk away farther. we got 13 days to get this solved and time for the republicans to quit their political stunts and start negotiating in true good faith. >> you heard tom cole talking about social security. do you support changing the formula that would essentially lower payments for some retirees down the line? >> i personally would have a very hard time doing that. chain cpi would be very difficult to do unless there were some significant and substantive protections for the very elderly and the very poor. it is an indication, however, the fact that the president put this on the table is another indication of his willingness to try and get the republicans to meet him at least some of the way. instead, what they announced yesterday was a tax increase just on people making over $1 million. so every bit of money you make up to a million dollars gets a tax cut.

and no progress on investments and infrastructure to create jobs. no progress on strengthening and improving the solvency of medicare and social security. they have essentially walked away from the game. and even worse, under their scenario, we keep doing these fiscal cliffs. the republicans here in congress, they're like that old cartoon, the road runner, where every episode is another cliff. that's what they want to continue to do and we need a good bargain that is big, bold and balanced, that is fair to seniors, fair to the middle class, and that's what i'm striving for. >> i'm sure you also heard that ad that was -- that's just been put out in a number of states. some liberals are looking at this deal and saying the president gave in on the last deal. and now he's already moved on taxes and on social security. you know, is one person's compromise another person's caving? and how concerned are you about that? >> you know, that's why it is important to have a democratic majority in the house of representatives. the fact of life is -- >> that's not going to happen between now and the time the fiscal cliff deal has to get

done. >> that's absolutely correct. we have to reconcile ourselves to the fact of life in washington, d.c., that is that the republicans will decide what passes the house and what is defeated in the house. and so in this environment, there has to be a compromise. what house democrats working toward is a compromise that doesn't balance budgets on the backs of the middle class and seniors, a compromise that asks the wealthy to do more. a compromise that doesn't ask seniors to be first to give the most. and the republicans are willing to have a true dialogue with us, i think we can get there. >> congressman, let me ask you quickly, before we have to go, because we know the president is going to announce later this morning that joe biden is going to lead the action after what happened in newtown. realistally what would you like to see happen in a legislative sense? >> i want to see at minimal a regulation on assault clips, people don't need more than ten rounds in a gun. i want to see an extension of the assault weapons ban. i want to see a closure of the

gun show loophole. and, you know, we keep on seeing horrors like we saw in newtown as teachable moments and then forget the lessons until the next horror. enough is enough. >> congressman steve israel, thank you so much for being on the program. the white house, susan, lynn, not expected to announce any specific measures today. peter baker, in "the new york times" asked how much political capital the president is going to expend on guns. here is what he said, quote, should he invest his energy and the stature he won with his re-election last month in a fight he may believe in, but is not sure he can actually win. susan, how good are his chances of winning given the national mood? >> we definitely have seen a response across the country in which mayors and -- with a lot of people to this terrible shooting in new towne. we have not seen movement among house republicans. the political figures who have

been associated with the nra and indicated their new openness to gun laws have not been the house republicans who would have to vote on a measure. i think it continues to be a very tough task in washington to get federal legislation through the house, that the president could sign on, and not impossible, but i just don't see the kind of movement and outrage that we have seen elsewhere reflected in that important body. now, we do have the nra having a press conference on friday, promising to propose measures. that could be very significant, if they did something, some significant movement that might encourage republican legislators to move on this as well. i think it is a tough battle and that's one reason the white house has been pretty gingerly -- moved gingerly in laying out exactly what it is the president is willing to do. >> lynn, as you know, jay carney said yesterday the president would actively support dianne feinstein's deal to ban assault weapons. he also used the phrase 16

times. how do you balance issues like this? you have the fiscal cliff, you have the new cabinet, the benghazi report, immigration. and then you what do you think the likelihood is because i can tell you having sat in newtown for five days, there was this immediate sense from virtually everyone i spoke with that something could finally happen this time, but can it? >> well, chris, i saw all your reports from friday on. and the pain that the people were feeling. but i can't be as optimistic as i would like to be right now because i've been through this too many times starting with covering the outrage after columbine where people talked about curbing some gun -- putting some gun restrictions, there is also talk about hollywood and values, back in '99, the video games were quite the issue it was. there are all kinds of talk and we never had anything. this time, well, maybe things

are a little different if for no other reason than the power of social media, letting people organize better on this issue, can cross the aisle on it. and i think for a lot of people, this may be an issue we're compromising on. what the white house has to watch out for and why -- a reason why they haven't wanted to take this on is that they don't want to go into anything they can't win. and if they do have legislation, they back it, it may be held hostage by putting on other pieces of the presidential agenda. immigration, for example. just to name one or some other debt and deficit issues in the new congress. and that will just tie everything up. so not all that optimistic, but i would like to be. >> lynn sweet, susan page, thanks so both of you. breaking news now. nbc news confirming that legal scholar robert bork has died. he was a former solicitor general who became acting attorney general during the nixon administration's so-called saturday night massacre. he's probably best known for his failed bid to be confirmed for

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next hour, congresswoman carolyn mccarthy and diane degette will hold a news conference to call on congress to pass a ban on high capacity ammunition clips. senator dianne feinstein says the first day of the new congress she will introduce the assault weapons ban. and senator joe lieberman is getting more support for the idea of creating a special commission to explore solutions in the wake of this sandy hook school shooting. let me bring in shara toplets who has been writing about this. they want to ban high capacity magazines but we heard this before, frankly, degette

introduced this bill in 1998. how much support is it likely to get? >> this is a tough one for congress to pass. representative carolyn mccarthy who has been affected shootings, her husband and son were killed on a long island railroad before she ran for congress, she's always been a big advocate of banning the high capacity magazines. and in the wake of the shooting of gabrielle giffords, she also submitted legislation that would do the same thing. and, frankly, it didn't really go anywhere. it is a very hard thing to pass through the house, especially because republicans obviously control the house. and the incoming house judiciary chairman indicated to one of our reporters yesterday he has no appetite at all for gun control legislation, even in wake of the newtown tragedy. >> as roll call pointed out, there are several democrats softening that, max baucus, an avid hunter and he has an a-rating from the nra, he would support the commission but bob casey of pennsylvania rejected

gun control legislation. is this commission more likely than an actual ban on assault weapons, is there a way to sort of sense what the likelihood is on these various things? >> yeah, there is a way -- you can look at the numbers of the incoming congress. you mentioned max baucus, a democrat, an avid sportsman, he gets an a-plus from the nra, the only democrat to do so. he's up for re-election in 2014. very conservative state like montana. i think that the commission is something a lot of these more conservative democrats will be willing to support in stead of outright gun control measures. and let's remember, washington and congress in particular, they love commissions. they love to form commissions. it is a way of kicking issues down the road or passing the buck, so their colleagues can make calls on these tough legislative issues instead of themselves. >> there is also a lot of fights going on the state level. michigan's governor just veto a bill that would have expanded where people could have carried weapons. on the other hand, ohio's

governor says he will sign a bill that will allow guns into the state house parking lot. are we going to see more legislation at the state level while all this plays out at the federal level? >> i do believe so. i think that's a great point. especially as congress proves increasingly ineffective at being able to pass anything. i think you'll see states taking control on things like immigration and also in wake of the tragedy, gun control. and mayor michael bloomberg has been a big advocate for gun control. and also it is not only states, but cities as well. rahm emanuel, guns are a huge issue in chicago, given the recent spike in murders there. >> we touched on this earlier in the hour, that the nra is going to be holding a news conference on friday. they did release a statement yesterday expressing shock and sadness, quote, the nra is prepared to offer meaningful contributions to help make sure this never happens again. i guess the question is what does meaningful contributions mean? is there any indication of that?

>> no. the nra is a very close circle of people. we won't be hearing a lot in news leaks about this kind of thing. it is very hard to determine what they mean. in the past, they have not really been -- they haven't been willing to give any wiggle room at all to a lot of their policies. they have been very clear. there is not a lot of gray area in the kinds of things they advocate for. we have no idea what they mean by these contributions on friday. we have no clue that they're going to say. >> we'll have to wait and see. thank you. good to see you. >> thank you. the search for a motive in the shootings at sandy hook elementary led connecticut's chief medical examiner to ask a geneticist to join the investigation. investigators want to know if there are any identifiable diseases that might be associated with gunman adam lanza's behavior. they were already subpoenaing medical records to see if he was on medication, maybe if he went off medication. they're also waiting for the results of the toxicology tests hoping to shed light as to why

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politics now, where senator daniel inouye will lie in repose in the capital rotunda honor, m reserved for presidents. he served in the senate for 49 years. services will be held at the national cathedral on friday with another service in hawaii. new jersey's governor christie's re-election campaign wants to raise $2 million by the end of the year according to politico. after hurricane sandy, his popularity is still soaring. a new national poll shows 55% of registered voters have a favorable view of christie. that's more than marco rubio and bobby jindal. they got the popcorn ready. tonight, the senate will screen the movie lincoln. daniel day-lewis and steven spielberg will be there too. if you read only one thing this morning, my must read is

about comfort food, which we all seem to need a bit of right now. the new york times had its readers send in their favorite holiday dessert recipes and even if you don't bake, the family stories that go with them are lovely. it is up on our facebook page at facebook/jansingco. tic cap eachy helps defend against these digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. approved! [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. can i still ship a gift in time for christmas? yeah, sure you can. great. where's your gift? uh... whew. [ male announcer ] break from the holiday stress. ship fedex express by december 22nd for christmas delivery.

. congress is being briefed today in secret sessions on a post benghazi report that offers a scathing assessment of the state department. the independent report says security at the u.s. mission in benghazi was grossly inadequate to deal with the september 11th attack that killed ambassador chris stevens and three other americans. it also cites systemic failures and leadership and management deficiencies at senior levels within two bureaus of the state department. in letters to the house and senate, secretary of state hillary clinton said she accepts every one of the panel's recommendations and has taken steps to improve security at high threat posts. just moments ago, secretary clinton's likely replacement,

senator john kerry, reacted to the report. >> secretary clinton said she would do this, and it would be a completely unvarnished appraisal and that's exactly what it is. and i think she and the administration deserve credit for doing what was required here. >> let's bring in msnbc political analyst and former dnc communications director karen finney and republican strategist john speary. good morning to both of you. john, do you agree with john kerry? does the secretary -- does secretary clinton deserve credit here? >> well, i think she does deserve credit. i think it is going to hurt her politically if she decides to run for president. look, you know, when you put ambassadors out in danger, you have to make sure -- you make sure you protect them. i think that there is a systemic failure here, i think any ambassador that goes into the troubled regions needs to be adequately protected and they didn't do that here.

and if hillary clinton wants to run for president, up for grabs, if she does or not, if she does want to run for president, this will hurt her and her campaign and this story will keep on lingering for a while. >> let me play what tom cole said about the report. >> it is a very damming indictment of state department performance. i think we have been less than honest to this point with the american people. but this is a step in the right direction. putting the facts on the people. there are some things that ought to be done, but on the end, this is on the president's and secretary clinton's watch, they bear a measure of responsibility here. >> is he right? does this tarnish what has been a distinguished tenure at the state department? >> well, let's be clear. from the beginning both the president and the secretary of state have taken responsibility and the secretary acted very quickly in putting -- pickering and admiral mullen in charge of this. i think it is a level of seriousness that shows a commitment to getting to the

bottom of this. so, you know, where as there will be questions, let's remember this is not the first unfortunate event of its kind. i think unfortunately it is through the kinds of events we saw in the attacks on benghazi where we learn where our deficiencies are. i think the report is, i agree with john kerry, and that i give them a lot of credit for being fairly transparent. i don't think we have seen a report of this nature and the declassified version be so readily available for people to read on their own. it is very blunt. it makes a very blunt assessment about the need to actually rethink the way we do diplomatic security, i think one of the key pieces here is that for quite a long time, we had relied on a relationship with the host government as part of diplomacy. and perhaps we need to rethink that arrangement because certainly diplomatic security and the state department and diplomacy is not the same thing as the department of defense and the level of budget that they have and the kind of security resources they have. i think it is the right question to say, what do we need to do

differently given that the world is changing so dramatically and so many precarious situations. >> we're going to hear a lot of questions tomorrow. there will be open hearings on the report. secretary clinton, as you both know, was supposed to appear, but doctors have ordered her to rest after she fell and suffered a concussion last week.uties ar going to be answering questions. will that suffice, john? >> i think at the end of the day, secretary clinton is going to have to testify. doesn't have to be this week or next week, but at some point in time she's going to have to face the questions. and because if she's going to take responsibility, she's got to explain, you know, her failures, what her recommendations are to fix it. and i think the bigger problem here is everyone knew libya was a very difficult spot. everyone knew that it was tumultuous and to rely so completely on libyan security forces who seem to disappear right when the shooting started, i think there was a serious

problem here that really far exceeds anywhere else in the country. anywhere else in the world. i think that secretary clinton will have to answer those very tough questions. >> karen, do you agree? will she at some point in the future have to answer questions about this? >> absolutely. and which is part of why i think some of the conspiracy theories about, you know, the faking of a concussion so she could get out of testifying is so ridiculous. i think she's more than happy to come forward and answer those questions, and i think there are multiple factors that contributed to what happened in benghazi. that's what the report certainly states and obviously it is not going to be a simple questions and not simple answers. i think she's more than prepared to come forward and answer those. >> karen, john, thank you both. >> thank you. also making news this morning, the pentagon is investigating its top intelligence officials who have been considered to replace general david petraeus as the next cia chief. the question is, whether michael vickers provided classified information about the osama bin laden raid to the makers of the

movie "zero dark thirty." the pentagon says leon panetta has full confidence in vickers. 22 fraternity members at northern illinois university have been charged with hazing after the alcohol-related death of a pledge last month. a coroner's report said 19-year-old david bogganburger had a blood alcohol level about five times the legal limit for driving, which contributed to his death from cardiac arrhythmia. 31 students could face penalties from reprimand to expulsion. blizzard warnings in effect in six states as a winter storm moves through the rockies to the upper midwest. the national weather service is forecasting as much as a foot to 18 inches of snow in utah and colorado and through northern michigan. with 50-mile-per-hour winds predi predicted, this could cause major travel delays as the holiday travel season is getting under way. look at this incredible youtube video. mud slides caused by rain and

wind earlier in the week derailed a train carrying chemicals and shut down transportation near everett, washington. seven cars were knocked off the track, but no health threats were reported. time magazine named president obama its person of the year. the magazine credits the re-elected president with finding and forging a new majority and turning weakness into opportunity. the runners up include 15-year-old pakistan women's rights activist malala and tim cook. instagram is getting instant backlash over planned changes to its terms of service. cnbc's mandy drury is here with what's moving your money and what is that has people so mad that they're threatening to delete their accounts. >> here's the thing. this is a photo sharing service, right? owned by facebook and really triggered an uproar this week when it unveiled its new privacy policy, which is carrying advertising. many thought it would mean

instagram could sell your photos to be used in the advertising. however, instagram responded with this statement. instagram said, to be clear, it is not our intention to sell your photos. we are working on updated language in the terms to make sure it is clear instagram users own their content and instagram does not claim any ownership right over your photos. nothing about this has changed. basically that they're saying is maybe people just sort of misinterpreted the new privacy policy statements. >> good news, mapdndy. a sign that businesses are feeling better about the future of the economy, holiday bonuses are back. hallelujah. they do appear to be making a comeback. that's at least according to a survey done by challenger, gray and christmas. an estimated 72% of employers are saying they would hand out some sort of year-end bonuses here. that compares to 53% last year, 28% will hand out bonus checks based on the company's

performance this year. about 17% said bonuses will be based on how well the workers performed this year. and about 14% said they're going to award a nominal bonus, something like $100 or maybe even a nonmonetary gift, something to say thank you for all your hard work. and obviously everyone appreciates getting something, right? >> happy holidays to you, mandy drury, thank you. if you're thinking about picking up last minute gifts, amazon is out with the list of the best-selling books of the year as of today. number five, "strength binder 2.0." number four, probably on the list last year "the hunger games" by usen collins. number three, "50 shades freed" by e.l. james. number two, "50 shades darker." and the number one best-seller for the year "50 shades of gray."

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i don't need to tell you that the newtown, connecticut, tragedy is causing lots of anxiety among parents. look what is happening. a company that makes bulletproof backpacks tells mother jones that just since friday's attack, they have sold three time as many of them as they would normally sell in an entire month. armor is sewn into the back panel of the $300 backpack and can be used as a shield. let's bring in psychiatrist, a clinical assistant of psychiatry with langone medical center. a sad sign of the times, a ballistic backpack. is that going to put a parent's mind at ease or raise more anxiety? >> i can understand that this is a natural reaction to a tragedy, that there is heightened anxiety and hyperarousal it very common. as a new parent, this is something that scares me. the last thing i want to think about is having my child in school and now having to protect

him from somebody coming in and potentially harming his life. but i do think that a lot of the reactions that we're having right now will dissipate with time. we saw that after 9/11, people in the new york area, but all across the country and across the world were expressing heightened stress symptom. it is common for us to want to watch out and wait for the other shoe to drop and hoping it doesn't and having reactions like this, like armor and other protection and preparing for something like this. >> it does seem like people around the country, obviously felt so acutely there, but all around the country, lick a form of ptsd. i've gotten e-mails from so many people and talked to the so many people. people called it the 9/11 for parents. what do you say to parents because so often, how we're feeling is projected on to our kids. >> yes. i would say to be careful about that. a lot of times the children are mirroring and looking at you as a model and they really internalize a lot of the reactions you have. i would say as a parent, you have to take care of yourself and turn to your peers.

a lot of times parents make the mistake of talking to their children as if they were their caregiver and their support system, like an emotional surrogate. be careful. a lot of times parents turn to their children and this is not the time. you should be providing support to your child and the best way to do it is for you to get support for yourself, counseling, with clergy, with family members, community members, there is a lot of mental health organizations that are providing outreach. and sometimes as a family, if you feel uncomfortable having this conversation with your child, one on one, why not take advantage of any of the mental health resources that are available to have that dialogue, maybe moderated with you and your child. >> it is very hard to shield your kids from the story this big. in fact, many of them are going to school and they're having drills, shutdown drills. they want to know why and their teachers are talking to them about it. there was a heart breaking story tweeted by usa today reporter, a handwritten letter to 6-year-old shooting victim jack pinto. he was one of the first to be buried. from his friend john.

here is what it says. jack, you are my best friend. we had fun together. i will miss you. i will talk to you in my prayers. i love you, jack. love, john. how do you talk to kids? is it helpful for them to be able to write or draw pictures, especially the young ones. >> absolutely. realize at every age and stage children will need to express themselves differently. it might be in the form of a letter. it might be in the form of volunteering to raise money. it might be in the form of providing support and bringing awareness to gun control issues, to other issues, writing letters to your state legislator. there are a variety of ways. i think altruism is a protective factor in preventing ptsd and we see there are certain things people can do in the aftermath so they can bolster up those support systems. one of them is giving back to the community. another one is having flexible coping mechanisms so that a child may express himself differently. one child may withdraw.

another child may have higher needs from their parents. the caregivers need to monitor what their specific child needs. there isn't one size fits all when it comes to dealing with trauma after a tragedy like this. >> thank you so much. i think you helped a lot of people just now. appreciate it. on a day when everyone is still working towards feeling some kind of normalcy, a picture that could help. again, tweeted out by usa today susan paige, on the show earlier, it shows the president pretending to be caught in spider-man's web as he greets the son of a white house staffer. how cute is that? we'll be right back. the financial obstacles military families face, we understand. at usaa, we know military life is different. we've been there. that's why every bit of financial advice we offer is geared specifically to current and former military members and their families. [ laughs ] dad! dad! [ applause ] ♪ [ male announcer ] life brings obstacles. usaa brings advice.

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a little bit of star power, actor, director ben affleck will be on capitol hill very soon. he's scheduled to testify at a house armed services committee hearing on the evolving security situation in the democratic repr republic of congo.

he's being mentioned as a possible replacement for john kerry if he becomes secretary of state. of course, he is a boston native, won his first oscar for a movie that was based there. and he has indicated in past he would be interested in running for office at some point in time. we'll keep our eye on that hearing on capitol hill today. meantime, it is christmas time in the people's house. in a special airing tomorrow night on nbc, meredith vieira takes a behind the scenes look at how first families have celebrated the holidays at the white house over the years. >> barbara would take the little thing off the -- >> so not true. >> i remember you. >> i did not. >> i maybe did. >> joining now, meredith vieira and "today" show contributing correspondent jenna bush hager, a little firsthand knowledge

herself about white house christmases, even though they may not correspond with barbara's. good morn to boing to both of y. >> were you kidding? >> no, she would always eat it. she was the bad one. i don't know what people thought. >> jenna, you had your first christmas in the white house, how old were you? >> i was 7 years ole, whi s old obviously is a magical time to be in a beautiful place, decorated so ornately and smelled so great. our memories of spending the holidays with my grandparents are truly some of the best that we have. >> oh, my gosh. first grade, so many trees. and could you go to the white house chef and say, got any of those cookies? >> we did eat one or two christmas cookies. yes. and one of the reasons why we did this christmas special is that, you know, we come from this group of women and men, there is michael reagan is also

in the special, who has the honor of living history. we all have been in the white house and know what it takes to make this holiday truly magical. and so even though we're defined by all of these different things now, by our careers, our relationships, our children, it is important, i think, that we celebrate being part of this club. >> and you're looking at it from a different perspective, meredith. i think when i see how beautiful the white house is, how crazy it must be getting it all done, the preparations, what struck you in putting this together? >> i didn't realize how much time it took. mrs. clinton said that when she was in the white house, she started in march because it is up to the first lady, really, who is the hostess in chief, as mrs. obama said, to get everything done. they start months in advance planning. they pick out a theme, the theme this year is joy to all. every year the first lady decides the theme. and then the day after thanksgiving, that's when the white house christmas tree, the official white house christmas

tree arrives and the first lady and children, they check it out and they always like it, obviously. that's put up in the blue room. and there are 12 other public rooms, each one of those has its own tree. these trees are huge. and then, you know, all the rooms have other decorations, the halls are decorated, the front of the white house is decorated. so it takes an army and there are also 100 volunteers from all over the country who apply for the opportunity to go to the white house and be part of the preparations to help put things up and i talked to a lot of them and they were really moved by the experience. and they were reminded it is their home too. every room we see in the special, every first family makes the point of saying that, they're occupying it now, but it is the people's home. >> i was looking at, they were putting the little miniature replica of bo on what i assume is a gingerbread white house. and knowing you a little bit, meredith, i'm shocked you didn't

grab a piece. >> well -- >> she did. she did. >> a little piece of bo fell off and the pastry chef, he went to get it and i, like, pushed him away and grabbed it and ate it. i felt very defiant. >> i have to say this is the last christmas in the bush household that finally your dad and mom won't have a grandchild. congratulations. >> thank you. yes. this is the last christmas. actually, they do have a grandcat, my cat bernadette is staying with them down in texas. >> also made a comment, once or twice, that all you have for them is a cat. >> they have not been settled about it at all. my poor husband. it is not always pleasant when your father-in-law continues to harass you about having children. >> well, apparently it worked. congratulations. >> thank you. >> i'm excited to see this. especially the white house christmas first families remember, tomorrow on nbc from

8:00 to 9:00 eastern. good to see both of you. thank you. >> thanks so much. that wraps up this hour of "jansing & cou." the agenda next hour, the president today taking action on guns as newtown prepares to bury more of its dead from friday's mass shooting. live in the next hour, president obama unveils his new interagency task force to stop gun violence. joining me, joe courtney and we'll ask the founder of one million moms for gun control what can be done, logically, to stop this from happening again. a report of what went wrong in the benghazi attack that killed a u.s. ambassador. how will this impact secretary clinton's legacy and her future as a potential presidential candidate. don't go anywhere. we're back in a few minutes. ♪ i'd have nothing to prove [ male announcer ] zales is the diamond store. save 25 percent off an amazing selection storewide, now through monday.

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good morning. i'm thomas roberts. topping the agenda, works turning into action. president obama announcing an